Health Promotion and Practice
Asynchronous Session
Featured The Effects of Gender-based Violence on Children in Johannesburg Townships: A Social Worker’s Perception View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Muriel Dlamini
Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a global pandemic that threatens the future of many generations. It does not only affect its direct victims but also indirect victims including children who witness it, who then become child secondary victims. While this is a global issue, South Africa remains among the leading countries facing GBV woes. For children exposed to violence both at home and in their respective communities, more intervention is needed. Social worker interventions are therefore crucial in assisting children who are secondary victims of GBV and domestic violence. The study explores the effects of exposure to GBV on children as perceived by social workers. A qualitative research approach was employed and a case study design was adopted. Eight social workers from four chosen organizations in four townships were interviewed. Invited through snowball sampling, data was collected through one-on-one individual interviews using a semi-structured interview schedule. The data collected was analysed through manual thematic analysis. The findings of this study revealed that there is a need for child secondary victims of GBV to get access to counselling services after witnessing violence at home, as a way of processing and dealing with psychological trauma. They also revealed that, while there is no stipulated intervention is ever used when working with child secondary victims of GBV, the use of more holistic ways of intervention has proven much more effective. Recommendations are made for future research.
Featured Phenomenological Exploration of Impact of Living with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in Women View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Devasheesh Mathur
This study explores the psychosocial implications of living with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), labeled as a lifestyle disease. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and two Focus Group Discussions. Following themes emerged: i. Relationship with self, ii. Relationship with food, iii. Relationship with the doctor, and iv. Social relations. We found that women suffer from serious psychological trauma with low self-esteem and feeling worthless. PCOS makes their relationship with food quite difficult, as everyone suggests lifestyle modifications. This begins with eating home-cooked food- a difficult proposition for working women. All respondents except one said that they wished their treating doctor were more empathetic and did not blame the patient for PCOS! In terms of social impact, we discovered that all families have a clear divide, where the fathers are empathetic, but the mothers are concerned about the respondent’s infertility and they constantly coax them for a better lifestyle. We observed that all married respondents have empathetic spouses, who do not pressurize them to change. It is clear that all the women have made peace with infertility and they are ready to adopt kids. Some of them are developing fatigue in trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle and are on the verge of giving up. The solutions for this problem should address the following: i. Doctors need to be trained in counseling PCOS patients, ii. Organizations need to think of women with PCOS, mostly in emotional management and home-cooked food, iii. Over-emphasis on medication might not work for everyone.
The Way to Overcome Problems Pointed in Welfare for People with Mental Diseases: Perspectives of Self-help Group Leaders and Social Workers inside Japan View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Junka Kishimoto
This research is based on interviews on experts specializing in mental health in Japan who have experienced mental illness. The study draws on semi-structured interviews for four representatives of each self- help group, or institution that supports people with mental illness and the dissatisfaction they have with domestic mental health care in Japan. Based on the interviews, there is a gap between the policy and the current situation. Furthermore, I analyze this using Andersen’s welfare regime (2001) particularly which aspects of the welfare are highly feasible to overcome and which are not.
Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Religious Values: The Case of Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis Regulation in Germany View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sandra Reineke
This study examines the regulation of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in Germany. PGD, an assisted reproductive technology (ART), was invented in the 1980s and involves testing human embryonic cells for genetic issues as part of in-vitro fertilization treatments. This study examines the regulatory history of PGD in Germany, which instituted one of the most restrictive ART policies in the world, including federal laws outlawing PGD to protect human embryos from scientific and medical harm. The German policy case includes a federal court of justice case involving a fertility doctor who turned himself in to the police to disclose that he had violated existing law. The court’s decision necessitated a parliamentary revision of federal law allowing PGD under certain circumstances. The analysis of PGD regulation in Germany concludes that the policy process was marked in three important ways: First, it was marked by the institutionalized legal power of the German judiciary branch to change laws; second, it was shaped by existing legal frameworks in Germany regulating human reproduction that defined the status of a human embryo; and third, it was impacted by the German institutional guarantee that members of parliament may vote at times based on their personal and moral beliefs not bound by their political party’s position on a matter. This is of importance because ART policy making involves questions surrounding the legal status of a human embryo and because Germany’s political party system includes two Christian-based political parties that were in power for almost two-thirds of Germany’s postwar government.
